How to Stop Your Dog Shedding So Much

There are two kinds of owners – the ones who run the brush through the dog twice a week, and the ones who run the vacuum twice a day. The first group isn’t lucky. They just figured out earlier that shedding isn’t something you stop – it’s something you collect before it lands on the couch. If you’re in the second camp and have been quietly Googling whether you bought the wrong breed, this is the guide we’d hand you. It works for cavoodles, kelpies, golden retrievers and most of the low-maintenance breeds in between.

You can’t switch shedding off – every dog with hair sheds. You can cut visible shedding by 60 to 80 per cent by matching the brush to the coat, brushing before bath time, feeding a diet with proper omega-3 levels and timing your big de-shed sessions to AU spring and autumn. If shedding is patchy, smelly or paired with itch, that’s a vet visit – not a grooming one.

Why your dog sheds (and why some shed a lot more)

Hair grows in a cycle – grow, rest, fall, regrow – the same cycle in every breed. What changes is the speed, the volume and the ratio of guard hair to undercoat. Double-coated dogs like huskies, malamutes, samoyeds, German shepherds and golden retrievers carry a soft, dense undercoat under a coarser outer coat, and most of the hair around your house is undercoat coming out. Short single-coats (kelpies, staffies, beagles) shed less by volume but more frequently – tiny needles you find in the carpet for months. Curly and wool coats like cavoodles or the Silky Terrier type shed least but trap the dead hair in the coat, which is why they mat instead of moult.

Two factors set the volume: daylight and temperature. Coat shedding follows the hair growth cycle, which responds to changing day length. So your dog sheds heavier in spring as the winter coat gives way, then again in autumn as the summer coat is replaced.

The Australian shedding calendar

Australia sits the other way up on the seasonal map, and the timing matters if you want to get ahead of the fur.

The big spring blow runs September to early November in most of the country – earlier in Queensland and the Northern Territory, later in Tasmania. The autumn blow runs March to May. Between the two, you’ll get a slower, steady trickle of moulting hair. In humid coastal pockets (Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, northern NSW) the timing softens and you can see year-round shedding because the seasonal signals are weaker. So a labrador in Hobart will moult on a predictable timetable; the same lab in Cairns sheds all year and just sheds heavier through spring.

The practical takeaway: book your big de-shed sessions either side of spring and autumn. Two extra weeks of daily brushing in September will save you a month of vacuuming in October.

The brush that matches the coat

Most owners use the wrong brush, then blame the dog. Match the tool to the coat and you’ll see a difference inside a week.

• Short single-coat (kelpie, staffy, beagle, dachshund): a rubber curry mitt or a bristle brush, weekly. The Furminator works but is overkill on short coats and can irritate skin if you lean on it.
• Double coat (golden retriever, husky, malamute, cattle dog, German shepherd, border collie): an undercoat rake first, then a slicker brush to lift what the rake loosens. The rake reaches into the undercoat where the dead hair sits; a slicker on its own only pulls from the top.
• Long single-coat (afghan hound, papillon, setters): a pin brush and a wide-toothed comb, two to three times a week. Slickers are too aggressive on these coats and break the guard hair.
• Curly or wool coat (cavoodle, groodle coat, cobberdog, bichon): a slicker plus a fine-toothed metal comb – the comb is the bit owners skip, and it’s the one that catches matts forming under the surface.
• Wire coat (most terriers, schnauzers): a stripping knife or carding comb, weekly. Wire coats need hand-stripping a few times a year if you want the texture to stay.

Australian groomers we know rotate between Wahl, Andis and Oster clipper kits for the trim work, and most carry a Furminator de-shed tool plus a basic undercoat rake for the heavy stuff. You’ll find all of it at Petbarn, PETstock, Pet Circle and on Amazon AU. Budget brushes from Big W will do the job too – the rake is more important than the brand.

A weekly de-shed routine that actually works

This is the routine we teach first-time owners. It takes 10 to 15 minutes for a medium dog and ideally happens outside, on a verandah or driveway, so the loose hair doesn’t go straight into the house.

1. Set up where the hair can’t escape (2 minutes). Outside if you can – grass, tiles or a non-carpeted laundry. Have a bin or compostable bag within arm’s reach.
2. Brush dry, not wet (5 to 8 minutes). Work from the head down, lift small sections and brush from the skin outward. For double coats, use the undercoat rake along the body, then the slicker over the same patch to lift the loosened hair. Go gently around the belly, the hocks and behind the ears – thin-skin areas where most dogs get touchy.
3. Check while you brush (1 minute). Look for matts forming, hot spots, fleas, ticks (especially after coastal walks in QLD or NSW), grass seeds in the paws and any patches that have gone bald. This is where owners catch skin problems early.
4. Bath only if needed – and yes, brush before the bath, every time. Bathing a still-moulting double coat without brushing first is how you end up with the bin-liner-felt look. Most dogs need a bath every 4 to 6 weeks. Use a low-pH dog shampoo at lukewarm water (around body temperature), rinse twice and air-dry or low-heat dry. Never use human shampoo or hot dryers.
5. Finish with a comb pass for curly and long coats. The brush won’t catch every undercoat layer – a metal comb will.

A bigger seasonal de-shed at the start of spring takes 30 to 45 minutes and is the only session that really puts a dent in the seasonal volume.

Bathing, diet and the small things owners miss

A dog with itchy, dry skin sheds more – the skin barrier gives up and the hair cycle accelerates. Two things help most: not over-bathing, and an omega-3 intake that’s actually adequate.

Most quality Australian dry foods include omega-3 already, but the dose is often modest. If your dog is on a basic supermarket kibble and shedding heavily year-round, a fish-oil top-up (salmon oil from Pet Circle, Vetafarm or PAW by Blackmores) is the cheapest experiment to run. Give it six to eight weeks before you judge. Coconut oil is widely recommended online and doesn’t do much for shedding – save your money.

Hydration matters more than owners think. A dehydrated dog has drier skin and sheds more, so an outdoor bowl in summer and a top-up after walks is the smallest fix on this list.

The mistakes that make shedding worse

We’ve groomed and de-shed thousands of dogs between us. These are the five mistakes that come up over and over.

• Shaving a double-coated dog. It doesn’t cool them down – the double coat actually insulates against heat – and the regrowth often comes back patchy or wiry. Briard owners get warned about this constantly, but it applies to every double-coat.
• Brushing only when shedding looks bad. By that point the undercoat has already separated and you’re playing catch-up. Twice a week, every week, beats one big monthly session.
• Bathing too often. Some owners bath the dog every weekend to fix the shedding. It strips the natural oils, dries the skin and makes shedding worse within a month.
• Using a slicker on a short single-coat. Causes brush burn, doesn’t help shedding, and the dog learns to bolt when the brush comes out.
• Ignoring diet, ear health and parasite control while blaming the brush. A dog with fleas, a low-grade ear infection or a chicken sensitivity sheds more no matter how you brush it.

When shedding becomes a vet visit

Heavy shedding is normal. Heavy shedding plus something else usually isn’t. Book a vet visit – not a groomer – if any of these show up:

• Bald patches, especially symmetrical ones on the flanks or rump.
• Persistent scratching, head-shaking or licking one spot raw.
• Red, weeping or smelly skin (hot spots, often after a swim in the warmer months).
• Dandruff, scaly patches or a coat that looks dull and brittle.
• Sudden seasonal shedding outside the usual spring or autumn windows.

The coat care guidance from the AVA is worth a read if you want the formal position on what coat hygiene should look like. For chronic skin issues, your vet will usually rule out fleas first, then food sensitivities, then atopic dermatitis. Most cases are fixable; the ones that aren’t get caught earlier when owners come in at the first symmetrical bald patch instead of the tenth.

A salon de-shed in 2026 runs about $80 to $160 in metro Australia for a medium dog, and around $120 to $220 from a mobile groomer at your door. The Pet Industry Association of Australia provides groomer accreditation for operators who meet handling and welfare standards – worth checking before you book.

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